josh rotchelle

Music Lesson 11: Sludge Metal

Apart from sounding like the heavily abbreviated notes of someone who specialises in sewage material sciences, sludge metal earns the notable accolade of being probably the heaviest genre of music that I plan to cover in these lessons.

This is a well-earned spot. Classified as an “extreme” genre of music, the sludgy stuff comes mostly from New Orleans in the US, and is characterised by slow tempos, mostly shouted or screamed vocals, and very distorted and downtuned guitars. And, when we’re talking about “downtuned”, we’re putting serious emphasis on the “down” bit.

Take Horn of the Rhino’s ‘Speaking in Tongues‘ as an example. In this tune, HOTR are playing so far down that your standard six-string guitar is literally unable to handle it. The crew have to use a seven-string for their low, low tuning. A slightly heavier and more unsettling example can be found in ‘Bell of Urgency‘ by The Secret.

as you can probably tell, sludge metal is not a newcomer-friendly genre

Such low-note droning is supported in most bands of the genre with similarly menacing vocals. Taking a leaf from the book of doom metal, the usual themes at hand are the coming of the apocalypse, death and dying, and anti-religious or satanic sentiments. The exact shape these vocals can take varies, but it’s always abrasive and rough.

The “shallow end” of the pool consists of players such as Eyehategod – try out ‘Take as Needed for Pain‘ – with more shouted vocals that some might even find comfortingly close to the territory of heavy punk. If you’re ready to dive in headfirst, however, you can find the pool’s deepest and darkest ends in such droning vocals as those found in Electric Wizard’s ‘Funeralopolis‘.

I won’t fib: as you can probably tell, sludge metal is not a newcomer-friendly genre. Between the endless screaming and shouting, the often-total abandonment of any normal verse-chorus song structure, the harsh and frequently offensive lyrical themes and (of course) the sheer weight of the stuff, even the most seasoned musical explorers may find they’re just better off taking one look and passing the genre over (unless they’re already into heavier types of metal).

Nothing wrong with that, but at least take the aforementioned one look: sludge is clever stuff, and if nothing else, it has the curious effect of making any song you listen to afterwards sound as twee as the Dora the Explorer theme.

Music Lesson 6: Opera Metal

Have you ever come across a genre that makes you sad about human existence? Josh Rotchelle stumbles across symphonic metal (metal opera) in his latest musical quest.

[dropcap size=small]H[/dropcap]ave you ever wondered what Tyrion Lannister of Game of Thrones has on his iPod? Me neither, but if I had to guess at the point of a dubious cardboard hollywood-prop sword, I might go for something a little bit like opera metal (also called “symphonic metal”).

Rising in the mid ’90s, opera metal is the proud son of its two eponymous parents. From its mother opera, it inherits (often) classically-trained soprano female vocalists, dramatic classical instrumentals, and generally sounding a bit like a film soundtrack. Grumpy old dad on the other hand hands down a love for electric guitars, a fast-paced and heavy sound, and a rather dubious fashion sense.

With a fair cult following, certain acts have risen to prominence in the opera metal scene: Finnish quintet Nightwish is a good entry point with tunes like Weak Fantasy and the mostly-instrumental Alpenglow (which sounds like it should be on a Soul Calibur soundtrack). Other prominent sounds include Epica’s Cry for the Moon, which has a few more metal features, including some death-growling.

Like most hybrid genres, opera metal can also swing to either side of its two influences. Inevitably, there exists that crowd that takes any given situation and thinks how can we make this moar metull? Enter black symphonic metal. Crews such as Carach Angren bring a much darker sound to the genre with such cheery tunes as Funerary Dirge for a Violinist, while Dimmu Borgir sport Progenies of the Great Apocalypse.

On the (sort-of) opposite end of the scale, opera metal does sometimes dye its wardrobe a more elegant black and come over all gothic. The result is unapologetically grandiose and epic: Hell to the Heavens from Leaves’ Eyes is a personal favourite, while Angels from Within Temptation is also worth a listen.

No matter where a given band sits on the scale however, it can’t be denied that opera metal is firmly rooted in the metal subculture, which can be tough on newcomers. However, far too many people avoid metal with cries of “too heavy” (pussies), and ignoring a genre so enormous, influential and varying is doing yourself a musical disservice.

Opera metal is not a bad starting point for getting in touch with rock’s heavier cousin, so dig in. Give it time, and you’ll come to love it, even with the extravagant face paint, noisy growling and enough shredding to cover up a university Vice Chancellor’s expenses claims.

Josh Rotchelle, Lifestyle Editor

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Music Lesson 5: Electro-swing

Fact: electro-swing is, on balance, the coolest genre of music in current existence. How? It pulls off the impossible balancing act: sporting bouncy and energetic tunes, but also maintaining a cool stride that makes it look easy. Think 20 cans of Red Bull plus Morgan Freeman. Lifestyle Editor Josh Rotchelle takes us through his fifth genre in this week’s music lesson.

True to the name, the genre combines samples from the ultra-lively genre of swing and crosses it with modern dancefloor beats and mixing. The strain originated in the thriving ‘90s hip-hop scene, where several one-off rap tracks sampling swing tunes were produced. Although pretty far from today’s electro-swing, they’re still worth checking out: Jurassic 5’s Swing Set and Lucas With the Lid Off from the eponymous Lucas are top tunes.

Over time, the swing sound gained more and more momentum with electronic artists, and has developed a niche-but-notable status. These days, the two biggest names are Caravan Palace, whose most famous tune is probably Clash, and Parov Stelar, whose Catgroove retains a place in my iPod’s library. The former artist is more “swing”, the latter more “electro”; like most combination genres, different artists fall in different places on the sliding scale.

No matter which way you swing (boosh!), there can be no doubt that electro swing has recently enjoyed a surge in popularity from an unlikely quarter: the last two titles in the popular Fallout video game series have featured a lot of swing tunes in their soundtracks, resulting in new artists remixing said tracks with an electro twist: Ring-a-Ding Baby from Icky is one example, while Gramophonedzie’s Why Don’t You samples another Fallout tune.

Before you decide that you’re too cool for electro-swing (read: it’s too fun for you), recognise that the genre has also hit the big time once or twice. Ever jammed to We No Speak Americano in Timepiece? Make no mistake, you’ve got down to some electro-swing, and you’re not the only one: the tune is certified platinum in the UK and nine other countries, and even had the stupendous honour of featuring on Beavis and Butt-Head.

All in all, electro swing is one of the funkier underground genres, mixing new and old to create the musical equivalent of a Jagerbomb. Check it out, but be careful how you google it (apparently fetishists use jumper cables at swinger parties, who knew?).

Josh Rotchelle, Lifestyle Editor

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Music Lesson 4: Horrorcore

In the fourth instalment of Josh Rotchelle’s Music Lesson, the genre on the chalkboard is horrorcore.

What do you get when you mix wearing your heart on your sleeve, a self-exaggerated sense of one’s own edginess, and a life on the streets? The correct answer is horrorcore, a fringe hip-hop genre unique for its fixation on violent and horrific lyrics. This sign would also have been an acceptable response, however:

Pioneered in Texas and perfected in Detroit, home to 2014’s meanest streets in the US, horrorcore earns itself a life sentence’s worth of GBH charges by assaulting your ears with its twin fists: a Tarantino-ish love for gore, and Marilyn Manson-style hounding of controversy. It’s never subtle, sometimes darkly hilarious, and always disturbing.

The first suspects in the genre were Texas rap posse Geto Boys, who put forward ‘Assassins’ in ’88, a chirpy tune detailing the process of prostitute murder. Soon after, Detroit rapper Esham took the same concept and applied it in force with ominous, satan-referencing tunes such as ‘Closed Casket‘, making an enormous dark fingerprint on the Detroit sound.

After seminal releases such as this, many followed in Esham’s fearful footsteps. The Insane Clown Posse came to the fore shortly after with a catchier, more mainstream sound in tracks like ‘Chicken Huntin’‘. Tech N9ne also followed with a dash of great speed: check out ‘Demons‘. Even Eminem dipped into horrorcore, with tracks from the early ‘Demon Inside‘, to the recent ‘3 a.m.‘, and at one point described himself as a cross between “[Marilyn] Manson, Esham and Ozzy [Osbourne]”.

However, the scene has never been exclusive to Detroit: elsewhere, New York’s Necro is an icon with tracks like ‘Dead Body Disposal‘ and ‘Who’s Ya Daddy?‘, while the late Big L managed to put out tracks such as ‘Devil’s Son‘ before being gunned down in his native Harlem (apparently that particular relationship offered no preferential treatment).

No matter who you pick however, horrorcore as a genre is pricklier than a porcupine with a bad case of caffeine withdrawal. Newcomers will find that the genre’s fuck-you attitude does not offer many entry points, but if you can brave the blood and blasphemy, the genre does have some cool tracks, so it’s worth checking out. Start with Eminem, since he’s a known voice, and cross with a ouija board and a darkened room for best effect.

Josh Rotchelle, Lifestyle Editor

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